Aquarist Atlas
↑ Collection form of Julidochromis cyanophleps

Chalinochromis cyanophleps "Kalala Island"

Kalala Island — kah-LAH-lah EYE-land (approx.)

The fish

How this cichlid is built, and everything about how it lives, eats and breeds, is shared with the species — this page doesn't repeat it.

Read the full Julidochromis cyanophleps account →

Specific to Kalala Island

  • Collection locality & coordinates
  • Local coloration — best judged from the living-fish photo
  • Kept as a single-provenance line, never crossed with other collection points

Care facts below are the species' — shared with Julidochromis cyanophleps.

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Scientific size5 in12.9 cm standard length
Temperature75–81 °F24–27 °C
pH8.6–9.3alkaline
Hardness (GH)very hardup to 446 ppm
Depth20–148 ft6–45 m
DietPicks invertebrates & biocover from rocks
BreedingBiparental substrate (cave/crevice) spawner~30–100 eggs (genus-typical; not precisely documented)
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNo colour difference between sexes; males average only ~10–15% larger, so the sexes are not reliably distinguishable externally
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

The Kalala Island population

Chalinochromis cyanophleps "Kalala Island" is the Kalala Island population of Chalinochromis cyanophleps, a geographic colour form from the Tanzania coast of Lake Tanganyika in the central part of the lake. It is the same species as Chalinochromis cyanophleps, distinguished by its collection locality and local coloration; aquarists keep and breed it as a discrete, provenance-labelled line.

Colour reference: living Kalala Island fish at tanganyika.si →

About the species

Julidochromis cyanophleps is a cave-dwelling cichlid endemic to a roughly 90-km stretch of Lake Tanganyika's Tanzanian shore, described only in 2014 after years in the trade under provisional names. Unlike its boldly head-striped relatives, it wears a plain brown-grey body broken by a single iridescent blue stripe beneath the eye — the feature that earned it the name "blue-veined." A shy, low-light specialist that often patrols cave ceilings belly-up, it is one of the lake's more cryptic lamprologins and remains scarce in aquaria.

Full Julidochromis cyanophleps account →

Sources

  1. tanganyika.si — Chalinochromis cyanophleps "Kalala Island"
  2. Kullander, Karlsson, Karlsson & Norén (2014). Chalinochromis cyanophleps, a new species of cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika. Zootaxa 3790(3):425–438
  3. Original description treatment (full text: diagnosis, etymology, habitat, COI barcode) — GBIF/Plazi
  4. Chalinochromis cyanophleps — FishBase species summary
  5. Chalinochromis cyanophleps — GBIF taxon (backbone + type specimens)
  6. Chalinochromis cyanophleps reference abstract — Cichlid Room Companion